Catalyst
by Hybrid5784
Summary: A mysterious woman appears in Jump City. Her appearance, although impressive at first, will set off a sinister chain of events leading to disaster. Rated MA and Horror in later chapters for extreme violence and language. R&R.
1. Before The Storm

Generic Disclaimer:  
No, I do not own the characters portrayed in this story. No, I do not own the shows that they come from. No, I do not have ownership of Warner Bros. I do have the artistic license to let this story be shown, as it will always be non-profit and open to the public. Any characters, places, or events that may resemble actual people, living or dead, places or events is entirely coincidental. I apologize in advance for anyone who may be insulted by this work.

This story was a weird one, lemme tell you. I started writing it before HIVE got its Brother Blood and Triton was a character. Because of that, it may look a bit weird at times. The first five chapters are done, and the sixth is currently under production. More details about that in the preface to the later chapters.

So, without further adieu, enjoy. Please don't yell.  
-Hybrid

**----------**

**Catalyst  
**

_April is the cruelest month, breeding  
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing  
Memory and desire, stirring  
Dull roots with spring rain._

_- The Waste Land, by T.S. Eliot _

**Chapter 1**

The sun was just starting to rise in the background. Soft rays of light shone out over the landscape, making it's way lazily through the rippling waves before touching the first bit of land along the coast of Jump City. As the light travelled upward along the coast and started to touch against the buildings, a singular bit of light shone through the buildings and rested against the road that was leading into the city itself.

On that road, there was a singular figure who was walking down it towards the city. Obviously not tired, the figure moved at a brisk pace as if he or she was going to miss something. The cloak the figure wore contrasted with the surroundings, as it was opaque grey and really did not have any kind of camouflage qualities. Not that the person cared, that was. "Hmm... Almost there... Don't want to miss the fun, do I?" The figure, in a female voice, asked herself while she marched along. The clicking of her heels on the ground became a steady tapping noise, much like a metronome that was stuck on a high beat.

----------

In the city, everyone was just starting to get up.

Beast Boy let out a gigantic yawn and sat up. The alarm clock next to his bed, although made with the finest titanium, still looked all dented and bruised after each morning when BB would morph into some kind of heavy creature and just lay waste to it with his left arm "Man, being a hero is tough..." he says to himself, sliding out of bed so he can look at the alarm clock. It said "6:30" through a rather cracked screen. Shrugging that, he dragged himself off to the bathroom.

On the roof, looking as out-of-place as the other figure walking into the city, was Raven. She was hovering in place, with her legs crossed, so she could do her meditation before starting the day. She didn't mind the sun, as her back was facing the sunrise. Under her breath, she clearly spoke the words "Azerath Metrion Zinthos" over and over again.

Down in the kitchen, as they have been for the last fifteen minutes, Robin and Starfire stood around. Star, however, seemed to be making what we would call "breakfast" but only because that was the meal that was supposed to happen at that time. "Robin... When the manual says 'Eggs', what form of animal embryo does it mean?" Star asked, staring at the cookbook as if it were in a completely different language (which it was.)

"I think they mean chicken eggs, Star." Robin replied, having already set the table for the rest of the Titans. He saw that Star was having a good enough time with the breakfast that he might just step in and help out a bit. "You sure you don't need any help?"

"I am quite sure! My culinary skills are adequate enough to handle that of the... 'Pan-cake'. There is no cause for alarm." Star replies confidently, taking the time to read the title of the page she was on.

"If you say so, Star." Robin says, now leaning against a counter while absently watching her prepare breakfast. There was still the chance that she would require some sort of help, and he had nothing else to do that morning until the Titans completely awoke.

"Hey man! Wake up! Dontcha wanna have breakfast?" Beast Boy yells through the door to Cyborg's room, before knocking on the door again. "Gimme five more minutes, dude!" Cyborg groggily yells back through the door.

"You said that five minutes ago!" Beast Boy replied.

"Yeah, and I'm sayin' it again! Five minutes!" Cyborg says, before a bit more snoring could be heard.

Beast Boy, grumbling, morphs himself into a small elephant. Opening the door (with just a little bit of unneeded force,) he walks into the work/bedroom and over to the table where Cyborg is resting. Before Cyborg could do anything else, he is picked up by Beast Boy's trunk and carried off.

"H-Hey! I just want some sleep!" Cyborg yells out, cartoonishly struggling in the trunk.

"Yeah, well I thought you would also want breakfast too." Beast Boy says, before pausing and adding to it. "You've done the same thing to me." He adds, smirking a green elephant smirk. The two continue to exchange voices as they walk off to the living room.

Raven glances up suddenly, looking out towards the city. There was a new presence in there; a strong one. This person obviously had a high potential for telepathy, because she could feel it from kilometres away. "... Hmm." Lowering herself to the ground, she rose to her feet. After letting her cloak drape down around her body, she moved to the doorway in the roof, going back inside the building. This was something that was worth reporting.

After putting out the small fire, Robin slumped back into the chair. His eyes had that cartoonish spiral look, and his face was covered in what looked like black dust. Star had waved away all the smoke and coughed gently.

"Erm... I guess that was slightly more heat than I required." She says, giving a small nervous smile in the direction of Robin. "I am sorry if you are injured, my friend."

"No worries, Star. Nothing broken over here." Robin says, letting out a small happy laugh that Star shortly followed with. "Do you want to keep working on those pancakes?"

"I believe the granular sustenance shall suffice for today." Star sighs, as she reaches for the cereal and brings it out to the table. After setting it down, she walked to the fridge and took the milk and orange juice, also placing it on the table. It was at that moment when BB and Cyborg walked in. Well, BB walked in. Cyborg was being carried.

"No point in struggling now, dude. We're here." Beast Boy says, setting down Cyborg and morphing back into himself. As he goes into his green-skinned human form, he blinks at the air. "Was there a fire or somethin'? Air's all black in here."

Star was about to give her confession when Robin spoke up for her.

"No fire. A ship passed close-by, and their smoke came in through the window." Robin says, kinda fanning the air around him towards the window. "Someone really should turn on the air conditioning, though."

Startled, Star looked back over at Robin and silently thanked him with a smile. Robin did the same in return, getting up and opening another window.

"Alright, whatever man." Beast Boy says, hopping into a seat and pours himself some cereal.

Cyborg slowly walked over to the table. Just as he sits in the seat, his head falls down against it and making a loud clunking sound. No sounds of pain were heard, since his snores drowned them out. Everyone else just looked at Cyborg as this happened.

"... Maybe I should have let 'im sleep." Beast Boy says, looking back on what he did. Shrugging, he goes back to eating his meal.

"Gosh! I shall help Cyborg back to his chambers. Excuse us for a moment." Star crouched down just next to Cyborg, picking him up under her arm so he is leaning against her side, and hovered up into the air. As she goes to leave, Raven walks into the doorframe. "Raven, I am sorry but could you move to the side for a moment? Cyborg needs his rest."

"That can wait." Raven said, addressing them all. "We have a problem."


	2. Whispering Winds

Generic Disclaimer: No, I do not own the characters portrayed in this story. No, I do not own the shows that they come from. No, I do not have ownership of Warner Bros. I do have the artistic license to let this story be shown, as it will always be non-profit and open to the public. Any characters, places, or events that may resemble actual people, living or dead, places or events is entirely coincidental. I apologize in advance for anyone who may be insulted by this work.  
**  
**Another preface for you guys to enjoy, which I strongly suggest you read. I apologize in advance for anyone who is disgusted by Mary Sue characters; I, myself, hate them with a passion. For those of you who will attempt to hunt for my head after reading this chapter, please bare with me on this. There is a method behind my madness, and this is only a means to an end.

So, here is the next installment of Catalyst. Please don't yell. x.x;

- Hybrid

P.S., Doesn't the auto-formatting in this place suck? Pissing me off so much. Can't even use a damned tab key to make indents.

----------

_And when we were children, staying at the arch-duke's,  
My cousin's, he took me out on a sled,  
And I was frightened. He said, Marie,  
Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.  
_

_- The Waste Land, by T.S. Eliot_

** Chapter 2**

"So, you're saying that something really freakin' strong just made its way into Jump City?" Beast Boy asks, sitting up on the couch.

After Raven had made her entrance, they all had moved to the living room. Cyborg was now fully awake and was sitting against an arm of the couch. Robin was standing next to a window while Star was resting against the back of the couch. Raven simply stood near the middle of the semi-circular couch.

"Yes." Raven replied.

"Well, don't that just beat all?" Cyborg philosophically and rhetorically asks the air.

"Could you tell if the force was evil or not?" Robin asked, sounding serious.

"No. I could not tell at this range." Raven replies again.

"Perhaps we could greet this individual? There is the chance that he or she may be of the good kind." Star said. It wasn't a bad idea to her. Too often have they had to fight against people who were just bad for, seemingly, no reason. They needed someone strong and nice for a change.

"When we are out for patrol, we'll look for this person." Robin states, looking out the window at the city. "Is there anything else you can tell us?"

"This person... Has a purpose in mind." Raven says, knowing that it sounded like it didn't help at all. "She is searching... _Hunting_ for something.."

"_She?_" Beast Boy asks? "Maybe she's good lookin'."

"You and me both!" Cyborg says, laughing and giving BB a high-five. Both of them shared the thought of some heroine in a tight-fitting suit. Everyone else just looked at them silently for a few moments.

"... That doesn't matter right now. I want to make sure that the City is safe." Robin states.

"If _she's_ all that strong, why haven't any of the buildings blown up yet?" Beast Boy points outside to the city, seeing that it still moved along like it would on a normal day. Moments later, an explosion happens in the streets. The alarm then goes almost a moment after the explosion happens, and BB is suddenly pinned by the hexing stares of everyone else in the room.

Robin, after staring BB down for that moment, yells, "Titans! Move out!"

----------

"You cannot esssssssscape me, misssssssssss." The creature buzzed out over towards the figure. His wings had fully extended and the stingers in his forearms were gleaming in the sun. Pushing off from the ground, he hovered in midair.

"Dream on, Wasp." The womanly figure exclaimed to the hovering insect. Moments after she did say that, a car lifted off from the ground and launched itself in Hive's direction.

The bug person simply gave the front of the car an uppercut, knocking it into the air and onto its back. "Thessssssse tricksssssss of yoursssssss won't work on me!" Wasp laughed back to the woman.

Pulling down her hood, you could see the long golden hair she had with deep, blue wells for eyes and soft features running down the rest of her face. She gave a competitive smirk. "I bet I can." The sidewalk than curled up underneith Wasp, quickly wrapping around him like a ribbon and squeezing hard.

"AHH! Noo!" Wasp yelled out for a moment, before flexing his insectoid muscles and bursting out from the concrete. "I could ussssssse ssssssssome back-up!" He yelled.

"No worries! I heard you!" Said a voice from on top of a roof. The person up there was clad in a black, 50's style suit, with a red napkin in the breast pocket and a red tie overtop of a red undershirt.

The woman looked up to that person before grinning as well. "Horror Crusader. You're looking well."

"Not as well as you're going to hurt, Doll Face." HC said in a smug tone, before pointing his hand at the ground in front of the woman. "Ladies and Gentlemen, give a warm round of applause to our favourite serial killer–" A beam shoots down at that spot, creating a pillar of red light. In that pillar, a figure could be seen forming. "-- Jason Voorhees."

The seemingly undead hulking mass that was Jason Voorhees stepped out from the pillar. The torn hockey mask stared down at the woman in front of him, as his hand continued to grip the blood-dried machetti that he used on dozens of other victims.

The woman just laughed. "That's all you can do? I'm getting bored already." She says, before pointing her hand up at the killer. In an instant, a gigantic golden beam shot out of it, consuming the killer in it, and drove him back against a building where an explosion ensued, the very one that the Titans had seen. As the smoke cleared, Jason Voorhees was actually gone. The only thing that was left was the arm holding the machetti and a whole lot of stunned silence.

"... As much as I'd like to say 'I could have done better,' I'd rather call on some reinforcements." Horror Crusader announced, before clicking a button on his wristband hidden beneath his sleeve.

"Doesn't matter what you send down. My victory is completely assured." The woman said, smirking again and staring back at Wasp, who seemed to recoil just by the look of her.  
The Titans were just starting to enter the city at around the same moment a hole in space and time ripped open. Some monstrous mechanical hand gripped outward from the hole and grabbed the edge of it, seeming to push it even more open. Based on the look of the hand, this figure must have been hundreds of feet tall.

"We were saving this for something else, but I figured that Megiddo would love to tango with you." Horror Crusader said, letting out a small laugh from his building perch.

What looked like huge cannons were pushing their way out of the hole as well, followed by a second mechanical hand. As this entered this world, it seemed to grow flesh, shaping and molding before forming into something of demonic descent.

All the while this happened, the woman simply stood there and watched the scene as it happened. Everyone else in the area seemed to be evacuating as fast as they could, while the police kept up a blockade around the surrounding five blocks. They knew from past experience that guns wouldn't help them in this fight.

The cannons pointed themselves at the woman, seeming to glow red for a moment. After steadily growing larger and larger, the glowing conformed itself into a couple of beams which simply drove their way towards the woman. You could tell that the beams were powerful, as they were knocking things away that weren't even in the direct path and tearing up the pavement. The beams struck the woman, engulfing her in an explosion that shook the ground and shattered windows throughout most of the city.

At that point, a green bolt of energy shot out from the side, striking the tear in that fabric of the universe and causing that side to shrink inward. A mechanical-demonic hand pushed it back out, and seemed to turn the hole around to face the new threat. As well, it seemed as though it were starting to pull the rest of itself out. Something that looked ovalish could be seen within the portal, but not that well.

The Titans had arrived as the beam had finished firing and had taken up positions around the tear. Likewise, the other two villains simply disappeared from the scene. Too dangerous to be in the city now.

"Azerath Metrion ZINTHOS!" Raven yelled before her black bolts of telekinesis shot out from her body, seeming to grab at the top and bottom portal as opposed to the sides. As if to make the effect stronger, she brought her hands together in a slapping motion. This caused the tendrils to push the portal down by the middle, making it look like the infinity symbol.

Starfire, seeing her chance again, fires another star-bolt at the spot where the top and bottom edges met, the force of the blast simply fusing them both together and repaired space. What was left were two smaller portals, side-by-side, each one containing one hand and one barrel of the large cannons that were most likely built into the shoulders of that monstrosity.

The cannons looked like they were getting ready to fire again.

"Titans, deflect the shots into the sky!" Robin exclaimed, leaping down in the direct path of the cannons. Everyone else gave their acknowledgement and prepared to do whatever they could.

Like before, the nozzles glowed red and seemed to pulsate larger and larger, before releasing the blast directly at Robin.

From the side, Cyborg shot off his own cannon at maximum while Starfire threw two of her starbolts from the other, hitting the beams in the air so they deflect towards each other, their own gravitational field catching with the other and causing them to entwine into one beam.

Likewise, the beams seemed to turn black as Raven was gathering control of it, but not enough to turn it just yet.

Beast Boy turned himself into a gigantic woolly mammoth and kneeled down behind Robin, as if acting as a wall to let Robin do his thing.

Standing in the direct path of the now black beam, Robin quickly pulled his cape over his body and crouched to the side, so that the cape was used as a shield. The beam hit the polymerized titanium cape as if it hit a mirror, causing it to shoot upward into the sky thanks to the help of Raven's guiding. The force of the beam pushed Robin back against BB, who was trying his hardest not to slide backwards as well. Once the beam was safely up into the sky, she dropped her control of it and looked back to the portal.

Before any of them could celebrate, the creature Horror Crusader called 'Megiddo' had already pulled the portal open larger than it has been before. Most of its arms were pushed out into normal space, gripping the ground as if it were soft grass. The head, looking a combination of green and red, gave off a screech from an unseen mouth and pushed its way into the world.

"... Dude, we're done for." Beast Boy said, turning back into BB behind Robin.

"We're not going down without a fight!" Robin exclaimed, standing up tall with his extended staff in his hand. "Titans, charg–!"

From the smoke of the previous explosion, a huge golden beam shot out. The beam seemed to hit the portal and snap it shut in an instant. Since it closed so quickly, the creature did not have time to get out of the way. The mechanical arms, the fronts of the cannons, and the head dropped to the ground with a hard smash, laying there lifeless as the rest of the body probably was where it started. The woman who shot the beam walked out of the smoke, gently clapping her hands. "Well done, Titans. I knew you could deflect those shots."

Again, there was more stunned silence.

"... Did she jus' take out that guy without even tryin'?" Cyborg asked, his eyes still wide from the sudden cessation of the fighting.

Raven hovered back down to the ground, as did Starfire. As they started to gather around, Robin stepped forward to approach this person.

She was taller than him by a foot. Her grey cloak hid anything else from vision except for her face and her long golden hair. Before Robin could say anything, she held out a hand to him. "My name is Alexis. Pleasure to meet you, Robin."

Robin, seeing the hand extended to him, blinks and quickly takes it in his hand and shakes. During that time, he noted her unusually strong grip. "Well... What can I say? Welcome to Jump City, Alexis." He says, looking up to the woman with a smile. The other Titans behind him relaxed, seeing that this person really was an ally they could use.

"I think a celebration is in order for our new-found friend. Let us return to the Tower of Titan and gorge on glucose-based nourishment!" Starfire cheerfully announced. Beast Boy, seconded the motion, while Raven simply shrugged and started hovering up into the air.

There was a bit more to the hovering away that people didn't notice. Raven, like she had in the past, felt something odd about this new person. Yes, she was the source of that power, but just who or what could have that kind of power and not be in the spotlight? Surely, they would have heard stories of this fighter, but they barely even know her name. None of this added up, and Raven knew it.

Down below, the other Titans were having an engaged conversation before continuing on behind Raven. Turns out that Alexis could fly as well.

----------

"Gentlemen, I assume you know why we have called the Exodus Council to order?" Said a shadowy figure on the end of a long table. There were no lights in the room, but they could still see each other's silhouettes.

The Council was a plan implemented shortly after the League of Heroes was formed, but was only in the Jump City region. This was because all the major villains immediately rejected the proposition, since they knew full well that villains do not work easily with each other. As a result, the Council would have only been used for emergency situations. And this situation was indeed a dangerous one.

"Yes. The new threat which appeared in Jump City." Another added. The voice was male, but had an English accent.

"Alexxxissssss." One more added, this voice obviously belonging to Wasp.

"After thorough scanning done by our surveillance devices, I must say that HIVE does not have the capability to handle such a threat." Brother Blood grimly put out onto the table. "Further analysis is needed."

"The challenge is too great to ignore, but with greater challenge there is a greater risk. I cannot lend my services, unfortunately." Said another, while he sat uneasily in the darkness.

"Well, who can defeat this newcomer? Everyone isn't strong enough to do anything! This Alexis is perfect in almost every possible way!" another cried, standing up in the darkness and bringing a fist down on the table.

"... Not everyone."

The heads turned to the opposite side of the table. Sitting there in one of the seats, fingers laced together while his elbows rested on the armrests, the one eye gleaming out through the darkness. "I have not voiced my opinion on the matter."

"Does your opinion really matter that much, Slade? You can't even defeat the Titans, let alone whatever the Hell this thing is!" Someone exclaimed. This person looked to be rotting away, yet remaining alive. Obviously a necromancer of some type.

"I shall defeat Alexis. I guarantee you that." Slade calmly says, not moving from his spot.

"And if you don't?" Asked Brother Blood, sitting back in his seat. "Perhaps your unending string of defeats has gotten to your mind."

Slade's eye turned to the old man and narrowed. "I will win." As if tired enough of the conversation, Slade stood up from his seat. "Within a week... Alexis will cease to exist." Turning, he walks out into the darkness, exiting from the chamber.

----------

Slade stood on his platform, staring up at the huge screens in front of him. Behind him, the gigantic cogs and gears turned endlessly in the darkness as a physical representation of Slade's never-ceasing mind. On each of the screens were what the remote viewers were seeing from their hidden locations throughout the city, and the Titan Tower. The screen in the middle showed the Titans sitting around in the living room watching television whilst Raven was quietly reading a book. Alexis was not there. Nor was Robin.

Flipping through another screen, it showed empty rooms. Bedrooms, workrooms, the garage, and almost every place where there was a space. After turning to the roof camera, he spotted two people sitting on the ledge. On another screen, a three-dimensional extrapolation of the image showed him that it was Robin and the newcomer, Alexis.

"So, you've broken through." Slade said to himself, staring up at the image of them both sitting there. Right from the meeting, he knew the severity of the problem; this was a problem he could deal with. However, he did not expect something like this to arise so quickly. His hand was pressed; time is against him now. "Pity."  
The screen flickered off.


	3. Approaching Clouds

Generic Disclaimer:  
No, I do not own the characters portrayed in this story. No, I do not own the shows that they come from. No, I do not have ownership of Warner Bros. I do have the artistic license to let this story be shown, as it will always be non-profit and open to the public. Any characters, places, or events that may resemble actual people, living or dead, places or events is entirely coincidental. I apologize in advance for anyone who may be insulted by this work.

For those of you who got through that terrible mess involving the Mary Sueing of Alexis, thank you so VERY much for continuing on. Once again, I'd like to remind people that she's that way on purpose, not because of a writing error. However, expect to see more of this in the future. I'm sorry if it's all cruel and stuff, but my muse forced me to write that at gun point.

And I give you the next chapter. Please don't yell.

-Hybrid

**----------**

_There is shadow under this red rock,  
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),  
And I will show you something different from either  
Your shadow at morning striding behind you  
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;  
I will show you fear in a handful of dust._

- _The Waste Land, by T.S. Eliot_

******Chapter 3**

"Do ya think that evil robot dude was two-hundred feet tall?" Beast Boy asked Cyborg curiously. "Musta been at least two hundred..."

"Dunno. Probably one hundred-and-eighty now, 'cause of that lil' slice off the top!" Cyborg replied, laughing at the memory of that creature's beheading, and gave Beast Boy a high-five. A moment later, a small grin came to his face. "Dude... That thing looked like it was growin' meat on itself. Do ya think you could... Change into it?" He asked, smirking.

Beast Boy made a disgusted sound. "Why would I wanna be that? The ladies like Beast Boy the way he is." He says, beaming his eyebrows over to Raven accompanied with a lounge singer-type grin. Although he was returned with a momentary stare and a nonchalant sound of rejection as if saying "not-in-a-million-years" without actually saying it, Beast Boy laughed and shrugged it off. "Well, at least Star likes me, right?" He asked towards Starfire, pleasantly.

She looked away from the vacant space she was looking at, blinked herself into attention, and responded. "You are indeed correct, Beast Boy. There is no question..." Star finished, going back to looking out at nothing and returning her face to that look of neutralness.

Beast Boy got up from his spot on the ground and flopped down beside Starfire. "You OK, Star? You've been all quiet since you came back."

Star nodded and smiled over to him. "I appreciate your concern, friend, but there is nothing wrong. I am simply wondering about our new friend Alexis and Robin. They have been talking for quite some time now..." Her smile slowly worked its way down into a saddened frown throughout her little talk.

"You're not... Jealous, are you?" Beast Boy asked, sounding more concerned than jokingly, due to Starfire's unusual mood and all those times in the past when someone else got in between the two.

Starfire blushed at that question, and quickly shook her head. "Oh no, I am not! I am fully aware of the novelty of a new friend, but I worry that he may be spending too much time with her..."

"Don't worry about it. Robin comes back every time." Raven absently states without letting her eyes leaving her book, knowing fully that when she speaks it was for the sole purpose of maintaining peace or confirming a truth that was under question. Since she never really spoke that often, it only magnified that fact. She crossed her legs and went back to reading that page in her book.

"Yea, Raven's got a point. We all know you're his main squeeze." Cyborg adds, slyly grinning while Raven shakes her head with a slightly annoyed look.

"... I do not know what the expression 'main squeeze' represents, but I shall accept that as a compliment based on your tone and context." Starfire responds, looking more befuddled rather than complimented. Despite that, she did smile in Cyborg's direction.

"Ooo! It's back on!" Beast Boy exclaimed, sitting back down on his spot on the ground. " 'The Ten Most Exciting Police Chases.'" He adds, a tone of anticipation in his voice as he eagerly awaits the crashes. Cyborg joined him on the ground, also looking as gleamy-eyed as his green companion.

"This program, why must the police be chased? I do not understand how the excitement is a result of their pursuing." Starfire questioned, sitting there on the couch while looking at the television. Although she was a bit troubled, this was a diversion.

"You'll see for yourself, Star." Beast Boy responds, his eyes almost glued to the screen.

Raven shook her head again, as if mentally weeping for humanity, and turned the page of her book. Meanwhile, the first TV explosion made BB and Cyborg cheer.

----------

Robin and Alexis sat side-by-side on the edge of the roof, looking outward at the city. She hadn't yet removed her cloak, although her head was still in full view. Robin had pulled up one of his legs, letting the flat part of his foot rest on the stone ledge. They had been talking for the last half hour about random things. They both knew quite a lot about martial arts and melee technology. It was at that time when Robin asked a question that he was interested to hear about. "So, why did you come here?" Robin asked, looking curious.

Alexis looks at Robin for a moment before looking out to the city and closing her eyes, letting the sunlight land on her skin. "Well... A few reasons. I wanted to go out and see something new. I had a lot of friends back where I was, but there was just no excitement. It was too peaceful. I wanted to go out there and make a difference, you could say." She responds, smiling.

"That's a good reason... We could always use more people to help out here." Robin said, looking back to her with a small smile.

"You're... Inviting me to stay?" Alexis asked, looking over at Robin with a slight gleam in her eyes.

"I'll have to talk it over with the other Titans, but you could always stay here in Jump City. You could help out a lot." Robin says, smiling a bit more.

The look in Alexis' eyes conflicted with the rather flawless history she gave him. She looked happy. More than happy; like ecstatic or euphoric. Almost like she was the happiest person on the planet. "I... Don't know what to say.."

Robin, looking back to the city, nodded. "Don't have to say anything. I'm sure you're welcome."

After that, they sat quietly beside each other and looked out at the morning of the city. The buildings and windows were being repaired, the large mechanical parts were being taken by the government and shipped off to some unknown bunker where they'll never see the light of day again, and things continued on as though the events had never happened in the first place. They never wondered how weird that must have looked, since that always seems to happen after every near-disaster. Still, both of them savoured the quietness before some other inevitable attack on everything they knew. Or, at least, just what Robin knew.

----------

A small icon had appeared in the bottom of the transmission screen in the Tower. It flashed "INCOMING TRANSMISSION" over and over again, with a light beeping sound. Raven, being the only one within range of the room, entered and typed in a quick command to see who it was. It was there that she stared up at the gigantic image of the upper body of Slade. "Slade... What do you want?" Raven questioned, typing in another command hotkey to lock out the main systems in the Tower. Cyborg had put that in and told the rest of them to use that in case someone would try to hack into their computer.

"A message. I see you have discovered Alexis." Slade said, knowing exactly what had happened. Raven, however, did not flinch.

"Yes. Is that the reason for your message?" Raven asked.

"Precisely. I have… Information, for you to consider." Slade said, then quickly added. "_Just _for you, of course."

Raven raised her eyebrow and rested against one of her feet, looking as though she were leaning to the side. "Why would it matter?"

"Because you also are suspicious of her. You are correct in your assumptions. I believe that is reason enough for you to recieve this information." Slade said. Just after he said that, the screen gave the slight tint of red. "From here on in, this conversation won't be recorded on either side."

"How do I know it won't be on your side?" Raven questioned. She crossed her arms, still suspicious of Slade.

"I may try to destroy you, I may threaten you and everyone you know, I may even unleash a demon capable of enslaving the universe... But I do not lie." Slade said. There was a short pause. "Pay close attention, because you will not get a second chance." It was then when Slade started talking for what seemed like the longest time while Raven patiently listened to what he had to say.

----------

After about five minutes after Slade finished and signed off, Raven slowly moved out of the room. She was using a hand to steady herself against the wall, while the rest of her body was concentrated on getting her breathing and heart rate down. Her eyes were wide open, and the beginnings of sweat were starting to form along her hairline. What she heard was something that she almost couldn't handle. What she _saw_, which verified it, made it even worse. She couldn't bring herself to tell the other Titans, because she knew they wouldn't believe it nor would they handle it if they did. Slowly, she made her way to her room, locking the door behind her. Moving onto her bed, she sat down on top of it. The texture felt different now, as if it suddenly felt dirty even though it wasn't. Crossing her legs, she let herself hover in the air. There was another texture towards hovering as well, like some kind of uncleanliness that wasn't there before. Closing her eyes and resting her hands against her knees, she started her chant. "Azerath Metrion Zinthos... Azerath Metrion Zinthos..."


	4. Sounds of Thunder

Generic Disclaimer: No, I do not own the characters portrayed in this story. No, I do not own the shows that they come from. No, I do not have ownership of Warner Bros. I do have the artistic license to let this story be shown, as it will always be non-profit and open to the public. Any characters, places, or events that may resemble actual people, living or dead, places or events is entirely coincidental. I apologize in advance for anyone who may be insulted by this work.  
**  
**Yeah, it's me again. Enjoy the first three chapters? This one won't be as long as the others, but it does help you guys out a bit. Congrats to those who have actually come this far. You're not gonna regret taking the time and/or energy. This may be the halfway point, although it might be longer than I intended it to be.

Enjoy the story. Please don't yell (but don't let that stop you from reviewing.)

Hybrid

P.S., I still want those indents. ;-;  
**  
----------**

_Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyante,_  
_ Had a bad cold, nevertheless_  
_ Is known to be the wisest woman in Europe,_  
_ With a wicked pack of cards._

_- The Waste Land, by T.S. Eliot_

**  
Chapter 4**

The rest of the day was seemingly quiet. After that initial morning bout and the introduction of a new ally, very little happened. The city was repairing itself quite quickly as it always had after some evil guy waltzed in and allowed him or herself to get completely and utterly totalled by the Titans.

It was because of that reason that the Exodus Council had to be made. After each humiliating defeat, one after another and against all real odds, the villains were never able to get a foot in the door. Of course, it was almost nearly impossible for villains to work together; their greatest trait was their own ego, and that struggle for dominance would only cause a civil war amongst them. This Council didn't have a chairman nor a solid moderator; the person who would moderate was whomever put out the call for Exodus.

With the arrival of Alexis, five different villains and factions had made the call.

Still in that darkened room, the people there had stopped yelling and arguing and had fallen down into a pit of silence. On a projection showed the DNA and the electrogravitational field that kept Alexis' body in tune. Her body stored so much energy that, without this, she would explode. None of them had any experience with electrogravitism, excluding Overload or Brother Blood (to an extent), nor could they have the capacity to. That is, no one that was in the room.

"What has HIVE come up with data?" A shadowy figure said, literally composed in shadows.

Brother Blood stood up and placed a small disk into the interface on the table in front of him. The DNA and the field disappeared and replaced itself immediately with a genetic scan.

"From some slight blood traces we had gotten from Wasp..." Blood took a moment to glance down at the data. None of it seemed real. "... We ran a full biological and evolutionary scan. From the best I could tell, her cells have regenerating properties as well as a perpetual mitochondrial output."

"You mean, she can create all the energy she wants?" one asked.

"Precisely. From the scans she may look something along the age of 17, but her cellular structure had shown no visible signs of advanced aging." She continued, flipping to what looked like one of Alexis' blood cells. The cell membrane looked as though it has a slight armour coating. "Best estimation towards her biological age is... Two days."

This sent a ripple of chatter through the collaboration of villains.

"Perhaps she is a clone? We know that technology exists." Someone with a thick Russian accent said, one gloved hand resting on the table.

Blood shook his head. "She is not. Clones, even if they are perfect on the genetic level, show signs of artificial construction as well as an artificial birth. Alexis does not share those qualities."

"Well, we've confirmed that she heals almost instantly, she has a repressed aging capacity, enough energy to dwarf the Sun, and she is against us. I suggest evacuation." One of them states bluntly, standing up.

Just as the Brother Blood went to respond, the screen switched over to a view of Slade's mask. As he appeared, whatever talking was going to happen simply didn't. "Anyone who wishes to join me on this task may make themselves present near the First Jump City Bank." Slade states, before the screen shuts back off again and not leaving any time for a reply.

The room remained silent for a moment longer, and even Brother Blood had sat back down in his seat in silent thought. Slade really did seem quite stupid for doing a bank heist with a monster like that prowling around Jump City, but maybe that was part of the plan. Again, it was quite futile to plot out what Slade was thinking before he actually does it. And, even after his plan is revealed, it takes a few minutes just to let the complexity sink in and take full effect.

Brother Blood got up and pressed a button on his wrist. A small headphone came from his ear and stopped in front of his mouth. "Jinx, Gizmo, Mammoth. Report to the FJCB and await further orders." Turning, he walked out of the room.

The mediator, democratically chosen after the initial confusion with the numerous summonses for Exodus, got up and called the meeting to adjourn. It was getting late, and they all had things they could be doing that didn't involve crime. This would probably be the only time where they could find solace in that.

----------

Five new drones activated and stood up. Like many other Slade drones, they all looked alike while having that special Slade quality. But, the difference with these ones was that they had a different air around them. Nothing visible, but it was a _feeling_ that something was different. Almost like an invisible shine. The rest of Slade's army was elsewhere. Their timed orders were given.

These new five were different from the rest. That should be made clear. Their purpose was meant for the one who had just walked into town. These drones, although quite material, seemed as though they weren't made naturally. Not a single flaw in their armour, no unsynchronisity between their designs, and nothing that had shown any form of weakness anywhere on them. Slade drones usually had that look to them, but it was merely a look. For this case, it was a _certainty_ that there were no flaws.

Slade, standing there before his creations with dull achievement, waited in silent thought before they were completely activated. Once that time arose, he started to speak. "Alexis is your target. Restrain her. If she resists, destroy her." He simply said, his singular eye showing fierce determination in that moment.  
The other drones knelt before Slade for a moment before filing out of the building. Their orders were given; they would seek out and do what they were commanded.

Slade stood back on his platform in front of the screens. A green light shone up and down over his body from some unknown sensor in the gigantic room. He was running a diagnostic over his suit so he could be prepared for what he was planning on doing. With the hundreds of drones positioned throughout the city in hidden locations, five mercenary-like drones hunting someone, and Slade suiting himself up for battle, it was almost as if they were preparing for another war.


	5. Scattering of Light

Generic Disclaimer:  
No, I do not own the characters portrayed in this story. No, I do not own the shows that they come from. No, I do not have ownership of Warner Bros. I do have the artistic license to let this story be shown, as it will always be non-profit and open to the public. Any characters, places, or events that may resemble actual people, living or dead, places or events is entirely coincidental. I apologize in advance for anyone who may be insulted by this work.

Hey. Yeah, it's me again. Noticed a whole lot of Titan-less fun in that last one? I noticed it too; technically, that was supposed to be part of Chapter 5, but I figured that this one was long enough. As you can see, the mystery is building. Why is she only two years old? Why can she generate her own power? All these questions are coming closer to a conclusion, but not yet. The storm is approaching, and you might as well want to grip something. After this chapter, it gets rough.

w00t! Numbah 5. Please don't yell.  
-Hybrid

---------- **  
**

_ The river's tent is broken; the last fingers of leaf _  
_Clutch and sink into the wet bank. The wind_  
_Crosses the brown land, unheard. The nymphs are departed._  
_Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song_

_- The Waste Land, by T.S. Eliot_

**  
Chapter 5**

Beast Boy looked up at the sky from inside the Tower and frowned. "Aww, man. It's too grey out there." He commented, looking up at the milky grey sky up there.

None of the other Titans took much notice. The sky wasn't that bad, and there was pretty much no chance of raining. Sun still shone through, but it only illuminated the milky greyness that hung up there. Beast Boy shrugged and flopped down on the couch in the living room. "Dude, can ya pass the nachos?"

Cyborg tossed over the bag of nachos over to BB and fell back on the couch with a dull thud and looked out the window. "Looks like it's gonna be cool today. Didn't even see a cloud in the sky yesterday, too." Cyborg said, staring out the window tiredly before just resting back against the couch.

BB ate some nachos, nodding his head. "I'm gonna haveta' change into something warm.." He glances at the food he was eating. "... Yet can eat nachos..." Pondering, he shrugs and turns into a giant green gorilla. Still holding the bag of nachos, BB continues to eat them. Only, this time, it was in a much larger amount and only slightly less noisier.

One of the more lonelier members, Starfire, was sitting near another window, just staring out at the city absently. She had her elbow rested against the window frame and her chin in her hand. "..."

Cyborg looked over around the room in boredom. Seeing Starfire sitting like that beside the window, there was a sudden feeling of _deja vu_ that reminded him of an earlier event. "Aww, c'mon Star! You know the dude'll be back before ya know it." He says optimistically, flashing a confident grin in her direction.

The red-headed girl looked over at Cyborg, giving a small smile. "Unlike previously, our new friend is not the cause of my condition. Rather, it is the milky pallor of your evaporated water groupings which has dulled my convalescence." Her eyes lit up a bit more now, another thought coming to her. "Perhaps it may rain, allowing us to watch more earthly cinematics and consume carbonated and fat-saturated sustenance!" She was glowing now with cheeriness, a sheet of bright colours now acting as a backdrop with little bubbles full of what she was thinking. Sub-consciously, she was more happy and relieved to be back in the presence of all of her friends.

"They just came out with a new movie, too!" Beast Gorilla exclaimed in a happy voice, before shifting into a jokingly ominous one. "_Gruesome Carnage_!"  
"Yea! I remember that one! The only movie where it was a mechanical brotha who did it." Cyborg says, grinning at his robot activism. Bringing up a fist, he hits himself in the chest as a sign of respect to his unseen comrades. " 'Bout time they make a psychotic robot, jus' like the non-metal dudes." Getting up, he strode towards the door. "Lemme pull the T-Car out for a spin." He says over his shoulder to them.

Starfire smiled warmly. "The luminescent Car of T. It shall be a joyous occasion indeed.!" She exclaimed in her usual Starfire Cheeriness©.

"Hold that off for now."

At the door was Robin. Alexis wasn't with him, but she could be seen flying towards the city. "Titans, something's up."

----------

After sending out the call for Raven, the remaining four remained in the computer room, looking serious and ready for some kind of battle. Even Beast Boy, in his short greenness, looked ready as much as the other three within the room. On the screen in front of them was a recording from the First Jump City Bank, showing Jinx throwing a bolt at the screen and blinking it into nothingness, with Mammoth in the background tearing through a teller station.

"Alexis sensed this a few minutes ago. The video was sent to us at around the same time, so she should be there waiting for us in a minute." Robin stated.

"Titans, move out!" He exclaimed.

Just as they went to leave, Starfire spoke up. "What about Raven? Surely, we should not leave her so."

Robin looked a bit grim with thought. "She will catch up with us. This can't wait." He answered solidly, still on his way out of the room.

Reluctantly, the other Titans followed suit.

----------

"Want som'more?" Alexis cried out, sending another golden surge at the purple goth. Jinx simply flipped out of the way, lobbing back another purple hex to Alexis. The shot simply impacted against her cloak like a cloud would against a mountain."You've got some tough skin." Jinx commented with a smirk. "Too slow for me though." She added, throwing another two forms of energy at her before acrobatically flipping away from another golden burst. "Hehehe... Such clumsy beams. I'm surprised you're even a threat at all." She comments, still smirking.

Alexis straightened up, obviously flustered by Jinx's taunting but trying not to show it. "You will not get the best of me, wench!" Just as she goes to throw another bolt, a large mechanical arm smacks into her from the side, knocking her into a building. "Agh!"

The little boy, now standing on what looked like mechanical stilts in a mechanical suit, swung his arms back to proportion around him. "To think, the human insect AND Megiddo couldn't take you down. You're _too_ fun!" He exclaims, a jet now protruding from his back that shot him straight up into the air, the arms and legs turning quite clawed. As the smoke continued to clear where Alexis landed, he shoots himself straight down at her position, the claws poised to strike.  
A much smaller golden bolt shot out from the dust, hitting the side of Gizmo's device. Although shaken, it still continued to descend. With this, a larger one shot out, now forcing the mechanical kid away from the dust and into the pavement beside her, the claws sticking into the ground.

Gizmo tried to pull the claws out at first, but they appeared to be stuck. "Ugh! It's just pavement! Come out!" He yelled at his machinery.

The dust cleared instantly. Alexis was standing there, looking quite healthy with the exception of a bleeding arm. When she had hit the wall, she had landed on a sharp piece of metal where her arm was gashed. Seeming to ignore the gash, she pointed her hand at Gizmo. "Sorry, but you just got your ticket out of here."

"'Fraid not!"

A purple blast hit the ground in front of Alexis, causing cement to spray up at her face. She covered her head with her hands and stepped back a couple of steps before looking to see who did that.

Jinx had seated herself on a lamppost while watching Alexis and Gizmo fight. She giggled down at the golden woman. "Didn't forget about me, did you?"  
"Oh, we didn't!" Someone yelled. A large blue beam shot out from behind, striking Jinx in the back and knocking her clean through the air before she landed on the pavement hard. She still rolled back up onto her feet again and turned to look at the new arrivals.

The Titans, with the exception of Raven, were all in formation.

_"Jinx, Gizmo, Mammoth: return to Exodus."_ a voice on Gizmo's and Jinx's communicator, the Brother Blood, had said.  
Jinx wrinkled her nose, not wanting to pass up a fight like this, but sighed unappreciatively. "Fine..." Jinx disappeared in the alleyway next to her, as Gizmo pulled himself from the ground and shot off into the sky.

Mammoth, having spent the entire time inside of the bank with the vault, let out an annoyed grunt and dashed out of there. "That thing was almost open, too." He complained under his breath. Everything seemed much quieter now.

The Titans went over to Alexis. "Are you ok? Looks like you took a beating." Robin asked, seeing her wound.

"It's nothing, really. I'll heal it over when we go back..." Alexis looks in the direction of where the two villains were. "Seems like they've retreated."  
"Wouldn't count on it." Cyborg comments. "'Dey don't usually leave fo' long. Give 'em a few hours, and they'll be back."

"The best course of action would be to... 'Wait them out', is it not?" Starfire asks, still hovering in the air although now in a relaxed fashion as opposed to a defensive stance. The grey sky continued to work that dreary effect on her, despite the fore coming of the afternoon with friends. It also seemed to be getting darker, starting to turn into night.

"Yeah... We better get back to the Tower." Robin says, now walking in the direction of the Tower. Beast Boy flew on ahead while carrying Cyborg by his shoulders. Being able to transform into a large, flighted dinosaur helps in these matters. Starfire started to drift back as well, but she stopped and looked to Robin, who was still walking.

"Where is our friend, Alexis?" She asked, seeing that Alexis has disappeared somewhere while they were talking.  
Robin looked around, also not noticing her. "Go on ahead, Star. I'll look for her." He said, smiling up to her. "It'll only be a minute."  
Starfire smiled in return, turned, and flew off with her other friends.

Looking down at the ground, he saw small flecks of blood leading from where Alexis was standing to an alleyway. Looked as though Alexis were trying to follow Jinx to wherever she was going to go. Standing up straight, Robin started to walk at the alleyway.

For some reason, he found himself walking past the alleyway. Blinking, he stopped and turned to look back at the spot where he was supposed to go. "... What the..." He murmured under his breath. Taking a few more steps, he found himself walking past it again. Robin didn't know what happened. For a moment he thought that there was something wrong with him. That something might have snapped within him. Standing where he was, the alleyway was within reach of him. Before he took a step, he grabbed the corner tightly with a hand and took a step. Without his hand on the corner, his feet would have kept walking on. Really, it wasn't him; _it was_ _the_ _alleyway itself_. With his hand on the corner, he pulled out a bird-a-rang from his belt with a tether attached to it, and flung it at an emergency fire exit ladder that was in view. His hand shook from the need to turn away from the alley, but the device he threw had no such restrictions. It swung around the ladder and locked itself there.

Robin, now holding onto the tether with both of his hands, started to pull. As if he were walking up a mountainside, he pulled himself into the alleyway. His body kept trying to fall backwards, as if some gravity field were behind him, and it only got stronger as he went. After a few more metres of that intense pressure against his body, he finally broke through the gravity, stumbling forward against the air. Breathing heavily, he unravelled his bird-a-rang back and placed it back into his belt.

With a quick examination of the alleyway, it seemed much more brighter than when he was in the street. Out there, it looked pitch black. Now, he saw a large metal doorway at the end of the alley, with a small trail of droplets of blood leading up to it. It may have looked like a loading dock, except that the doorway was far too high-tech and there was an interface just beside it. Robin thought about getting the other Titans back here, but he saw how hard it was just to enter the alleyway. It would be better if he handled this himself. Moving over to the interface, he saw a screen that read "ENTER PASSWORD HERE". What was weird about it, was that there was no place to enter a password, nor any room to place a password onto the screen. Raising an eyebrow, Robin took a small electronic device from his belt and placed it on the screen. The device lightly clamped onto the screen and lightly flashed a couple of times.  
The screen seemed to flicker for a few moments as well, followed by data scrolling from all sides, before it flashed green. Robin was eternally grateful that Cyborg had taken the time to give him that external hacking device, or he would have had to make his entrance known. The door opened swiftly as opposed to the usual slowness. Cold air washed out of it and lingered around him. Still, this did not stop Robin from walking into the darkness without fear. Just as Robin entered, the door closed behind him. Just as the door closed, it disappeared. There was nothing but an alleyway there, as if the door were meant for only one usage.

From the rooftop overlooking the door, Jinx raised an eyebrow. "Did Boy Wonder just disappear into a wall?" She shrugged, and continued back to Exodus  
where they awaited her, while under the cover of dusk.

----------

In the darkness, the drones had returned to Slade. Their task had been completed. Slade stood there silently for a long time, looking as though he were in thought. The first part of the task had been complete, and all that was left was so simple yet so difficult to assign. A hurdle that he thought he would never have to do again, nor to witness. However, in his mind, he must be done. That past was gone for him. He had evolved beyond it. What he will command would not affect him. Finally, he turned his eye up to the drones again. "Initiate Phase Two."

The drones bowed for a moment, then leaped back out of sight. Slade gripped his wrist just a bit harder and closed his eye.


End file.
